PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Contact: Diane Ainsworth
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDecember 4, 1996
NEW MARS SCREEN SAVER AVAILABLE ON-LINE
A new screen saver debuts today showing the "Sojourner"
rover, which was launched today on the Mars Pathfinder
spacecraft, as it crisscrosses over or navigates around Martian
boulders.
The screen saver display is free and available on the
Internet for computer users with Windows 3.1 and '95 and
Macintosh software. It can be downloaded by accessing the JPL
Mars home page at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mars/
The software was designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory as part of an effort to educate the public about the
Mars Pathfinder mission and NASA's decade-long program of Mars
exploration. It depicts the 60-centimeter (23-inch) long
Sojourner microrover that will drive out onto the surface of Mars
to explore the composition of rocks and soil in July 1997.
Sojourner is able to hurdle small rocks and steer around those
that are too large to scale. The rover features several
innovative new technologies, including miniaturized electronics
and a six-wheeled "rocker-bogie" suspension system that allows it
to climb over rocks almost as tall as itself.
The new screen saver also includes dramatic scenes of some
geologically intriguing regions on Mars that will be photographed
by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter, which was launched on
Nov. 7, 1996, from NASA's Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL.
Surveyor, which will reach Mars on Sept. 12, 1997, will
orbit the planet for one full Martian year, the equivalent of 687
Earth days, taking new images of Mars and making scientific
measurements of its atmosphere and surface. JPL's new screen
saver sequence depicts various dramatic images of Mars, showing
increasing detail of some prominent features such as a towering
volcano called Olympus Mons and a huge canyon known as Valles
Marineris. The closing sequence shows a Viking photograph of
Pathfinder's targeted landing site on an ancient flood plain
known as Areas Valles.
"The images of Mars were rendered here at JPL on our CRAY
T3D parallel supercomputer," said Dr. Carl Kukkonen, manager of
JPL's Supercomputing Project. "Scenes like this helped the Mars
Exploration Program Office at JPL to determine the most ideal
landing site for the Pathfinder mission."
"This screen saver is another exciting tool that any Windows
or Macintosh user can have to learn more about NASA's Mars
exploration program," added Dr. Cheick Diarra, manager of the
Mars Education and Public Outreach Office at JPL.
The screen saver is available in the Windows 3.1, Windows
'95 and Macintosh formats to computer users with any version of
the "After Dark" screen saver software produced by Berkeley
Systems, Inc. The screen saver was a joint effort of JPL and
Berkeley Systems of Berkeley, CA, developer of After Dark
screen saver software, which can be downloaded from the Internet
by using the following address: http://www.berksys.com
The Mars exploration program and the Supercomputing Project
at JPL supported development of the new Mars exploration screen
saver with funding from NASA's Office of Space Science,
Washington, D.C.
December 4, 1996